The WIC NZ Innovate 100 programme is aimed at assisting the growing population of Internet startup companies and creative industries in Dunedin in the process of developing innovative and compelling online content to be delivered to consumers in New Zealand and the rest of the world.

The company pioneered low-cost, fixed-rate commercial and residential connections with no data caps or excess data charges, removing barriers to entry and other disincentives to use amongst the user population.

New and innovative ideas on the Internet take time to evolve and mature and can gain critical mass only through engagement with a wide audience. Where there is a high barrier or cost of entry to providing content, often these ideas do not have time or opportunity to flourish. Innovate 100 is a solution to reduce those barriers and retain creative, innovative thinkers within the Dunedin community.

Innovate 100 provides an online digital content producer with access capacity of up to 100Mbps of outbound Internet traffic. The access points for this service are open to existing and new customers at high-capacity fibre-connected nodes in Dunedin city. Content served via Innovate 100 is peered nationally at all of the neutral Internet exchanges to facilitate rapid access from all consumers regardless of ISP.

Innovate 100 is a step beyond existing service offerings and takes advantage of increased capabilities and under-utilized outbound capacity on our Internet backhaul. We believe that with the advent of Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB), a robust content and hosting ecosystem needs to evolve to meet future demand. Innovate 100 is the first step in stimulating local content providers to experiment with new ideas that will scale up to meet this demand. Stu Fleming, Managing Director and Chief Technical Officer of WIC NZ says “This is the lowest cost of entry that we can think of to enable Dunedin-based content providers to be able to implement their ideas and get their online content to the world. All you need is a server and a network cable.”

Innovate 100 is available to new and existing WIC NZ customers and associates of The Distiller. "WIC NZ has been a long-time champion for Dunedin's bootstrapped technology entrepreneurs through its unconditional support of The Distiller since its inception,” says Jason Leong, co-founder of The Distiller and PocketSmith. “Innovate 100 is a clear example of the forward thinking and action that will uplift Dunedin's profile as a cradle for entrepreneurship, and we're very excited to be a part this remarkable opportunity. We look forward to partnering with WIC NZ in building the next generation of products and services that will be consumed over the broadband of tomorrow."

The Innovate 100 programme will operate for 12 months from January 2011. It is available initially at WIC NZ's hosting centre at Cresswell St, Dunedin and within the Centre for Innovation at St David St, Dunedin. WIC NZ is a Layer 2 provider with Flute Networks and can extend Innovate 100 at cost to reach any location within the Flute Networks coverage area.